4 passages in English
· 1947– · Africana Philosophy.
Overview
Mogobe B. Ramose (b. 1947) is a South African philosopher whose African Philosophy Through Ubuntu (1999) reconstructs ubuntu as a root of African ontology, epistemology, law, and ethics against lingering colonial epistemic frameworks.
Main ideas
Ubuntu is the wellspring of African philosophy: human being is affirmed by recognizing others’ humanity and establishing humane relations (the philosophical gloss of umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu). Authentic liberation requires releasing colonized knowledge from European paradigms and addressing justice after conquest.
Major works
African Philosophy Through Ubuntu
essays on justice, race, and ubu-ntu
Legacy
Ramose made ubuntu available as rigorous philosophy rather than slogan, influencing debates on African humanism, law, and post-apartheid ethics.
Ubuntu is the root of African philosophy. The be-ing of an African in the universe is inseparably anchored upon ubuntu. … Ubuntu then is the wellspring flowing with African ontology and epistemology.
In spite of decolonisation, the philosophical character of European standpoint on colonisation together with its corresponding practices remains unchanged in its relations with the erstwhile colonies. It is precisely this condition which calls for the need for the authentic liberation of Africa.
Ubuntu is the principle that we act humanely and with respect towards others as a way of demanding the same from them.
To be a human being is to affirm one's humanity by recognising the humanity of others and, on that basis, establish humane relations with them.